Your website is an excellent find. Jennifer C., Micanopy, FL

Matt's Forum Posts: 6
Journal Entries: 6
Interview Answers: 62
Average Forum Rating: 3.80



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Getting water...

Posted to Oklahoma-Steel by Matt in Minco, OK on 4/13/2011 6:42:04 AM

 I finally have the water well finished. I have been waiting on this so I could get the ball rolling on this  house project. The driller went down 80 ft and he believes that this will make a good well. We dropped a pump in the hole and cleaned it out and it has pump at 6 gpm for a day and a half non stop. He is going to come back later and install the pitless adapter and the new pump. Cost for the drilling,casing,gravel pack,etc... was $15 @ ft.

Photos

This old house...

Posted to Oklahoma-Steel by Matt in Minco, OK on 3/6/2011

Its been several months since my last update. Since then we have been talking to more subs; still trying to finish the plans. Most of the house plans are ready, but still working on the layout for the home theater room.

The four acres we bought in 2001 had an old farmhouse on it. We remodeled it and currently rent it out. The bad part is, it sits directly where we want to put our new house.We have discussed this in the past, and had decided just to build on another spot of the four acres. But as time went on and more discussion, we gave in and now plan on having the old house moved to another spot on the four acres. That has taken up the last couple of weeks, finding someone that could move the house and build a new foundation. The house should be moved and sitting on the new foundation within a month. We are also meeting with our well driller this week and should have a well within two weeks. It sure is a slow process, but I am sure it will be worth it.

Photos

This is the current house that will be moved.

New HVAC quote

Posted to Oklahoma-Steel by Matt in Minco, OK on 12/20/2010 5:29:24 PM

Well, after spending all weekend not knowing whether I should be mad, disappointed or what after receiving my latest geothermal quote, I got on the phone first thing this morning and called another company that has done some work for a few coworkers. After talking with him and giving him a rundown of my house plans, he thinks I should be in the $33K range and if he does the radiant also, I would be looking at $46K. These were just ballpark figures; he wants to meet and go over the plans and specs, but this is looking a lot better than the last company.

Posted by Peter in Burlington, WA on 12/20/2010 Peter's Forum Posts: 20 Interview Answers: 36 Average Forum Rating: 4.29 Randomly Selected Image 12/20/2010

Well, don't get mad. Sounds like you are more towards the beginning of the road, and it isn't a short one. There will be a lot of this in your future. Just make sure you get lots of bids on each item. Contractors seem to be trying to make up for volume by getting more for each job. Quite a bit more. Everyone says they will get multiple bids, but the contractors seem surprised when you actually go out and do it. I've also noticed that when they mention the tax credits, it means they are counting on getting some of that for themselves by charging you more. Here are the recent bids on my 4,400 sf 12-zone radiant air-sourced heat pump system: $43K $48K $73K $80K $89K The two low bidders broke down the bid into components, so you could see what you were getting. The three high bids did not.  Get the picture?

Road bump

Posted to Oklahoma-Steel by Matt in Minco, OK on 12/18/2010

I guess everything was moving along too smoothly, something was bound to trip us up. And our HVAC bid happened to be it. I had traveled to one of the local HVAC businesses in the area to go over my plans and talk about my options. We liked the the option of going geothermal and using a heat exchanger to also heat our water for the radiant floor. He suggested a 7-ton system with 2-3 zones. All this was sounding really nice until he threw out the $75K-$80K price tag. WOW, was I shocked. After picking myself up from the floor, he then reminded me of the 30% tax credit, but still, I just don't think I can justify that kind of cost. Do these prices seem right to anyone?

Posted by Mary in PA on 12/19/2010 Mary's Forum Posts: 101 Journal Entries: 60 Interview Answers: 15 Average Forum Rating: 4.17 Image from Mary's blog 12/19/2010

Hi Matt, At that price, I would have needed one of those heart defibrillators before they got me up off the floor! ;-) But I guess a lot depends on your budget, the house size and so on. I don't have enough experience to comment on the price one way or the other - but here are some ideas you might check into. How big a system do you really need? Make sure that the size of your proposed system is based on an analysis of the heat/cooling loads for your home. Also consider adding to the quality of the building envelope (airtightness and insulation) to drive down heating/cooling needs. Maybe the size of the system could be reduced.  Also, for further reading and questions, check out the forums over at greenbuildingtalk.com. They have threads just on geo HP that might be useful to you. Good luck with your build! Mary

Posted by Peter in Burlington, WA on 12/19/2010 Peter's Forum Posts: 20 Interview Answers: 36 Average Forum Rating: 4.29 Randomly Selected Image 12/19/2010

Even $75,000 seems quite high. The tax credit is supposed to go to you, the owner, to encourage the purchase of the system in the first place, not to the contractor for putting it in. You will be getting a number of other bids, won't you?

Still checking out subs...

Posted to Oklahoma-Steel by Matt in Minco, OK on 12/7/2010

Well, today I dropped off plans at the carpenter's shop. Man, was I not prepared for all the options that are now available for cabinets. He is supposed to be working up some 3D layouts and getting back to me with some quotes. I have decided to go with Marvin windows. I also made a stop by our local Marvin shop today and took a look at their showroom. I was really impressed. After getting the quote on the windows and seeing what they had on display, I will definitely be using Marvin windows.

Over they last few days, I have had a local guy hauling in some fill dirt for the pad. I needed 21 total loads; here is a pic of the first 11.

Photos

11 loads of fill dirt

The ball is finally rolling...

Posted to Oklahoma-Steel by Matt in Minco, OK on 11/29/2010

Well, after years of talking and planning, we hope it is now time to began some actual work. We plan on building a basic metal structure and then framing it out with wood. The building size is going to be 50'x81'x17'. I'll give you a rundown on the house. The three-car garage will be located on the east side of the house. The garage will also house a mechanical room.

The inside of the house will be a two story with a vaulted ceiling over a very wide open kitchen/living area. Also, on the first floor will be the master BR, bath and closet, three kid rooms, 2.5 baths, a laundry, and a huge pantry.

The second floor will include another bedroom and bath, a huge office and a huge storage closet, a movie room and a large game room.

We plan on using SPF for insulation. We will have 5.5" in the exterior walls and 7" under the roof. We are looking for a high-quality window; if anyone has any recommendations we would love to hear them.

Most of the flooring in the house will be stained and scored concrete with only the bedrooms containing carpet. We will also be installing a radiant-heating system in as well. I love the look of the stained concrete, but there was no way I was going to live on it unless it was heated! These are just of few of the many details, and hopefully I will get a chance to discuss all of them with the O-B family on ownerbuilderbook.com. This is a great site with tons and tons of resources. I'll try and post some pics of our plans.